Chapter 172: A Sword Comes from the East (First Update, Seeking Subscriptions)

Not only that, Chen Fengyun had also unreservedly imparted the Art of Observing Qi and Seeking Veins to him. Although his comprehension was not as profound as Chen Fengyun's, he was still able to channel some of the earth's vein energy to enhance his offensive power.

"Roar..."

Just as Clive's light sword slashed away Wan Huafeng's three longswords and broke free from Marina's divine dragon entanglement, a sudden surge of earth vein energy rose up, making him feel as if he had fallen into a quagmire, stalling his movements and forcing a wild roar from his throat.

However, taking advantage of this obstruction, Wan Huafeng had already retreated to the vicinity of the other two. The three once again formed an encirclement, and the situation returned to its initial state, standing in a stalemate with Clive.

Nevertheless, Clive was, after all, a peak grandmaster. The explosion of his strength was heaven-shaking, causing the martial arts grandmasters watching from afar to feel a sense of trepidation in their hearts.

Yet, Uncle Thirteen, Marina, and Wan Huafeng cooperated exceptionally well. Regardless of how Clive charged back and forth or shifted his targets, he failed to disrupt their encirclement, nor could he inflict any real damage upon them.

"Boom..."

On the other side, the fierce battle between Ma Xiaoling and Dragut was even more astonishing. The ultimate duel between two peak martial arts grandmasters stirred up a storm akin to a category-twelve typhoon, flattening several surrounding hills.

Fortunately, the Chinese martial arts experts had previously chosen a location deep amidst a range of mountains. Had this taken place in a city or a rural village, such a decisive battle would likely have caused massive casualties and economic losses.

"Dragut, Clive, if the two of you are willing to apologize, this old woman can take it upon herself to let you retreat now. But if you continue to pester us unreasonably, we will definitely make you regret coming to China." While attacking Dragut, Ma Xiaoling did not forget to use words to threaten her opponent.

"Hmph, unless your Chinese congenital martial saint arrives, you old woman do not have the power to make us retreat like this. If Clive and I throw caution to the wind and go on a killing spree, I am afraid that aside from you, old woman, few people here will be able to escape alive." Dragut naturally harbored no fear of the threat and let out a cold snort.

"You are welcome to try. If you dare to kill a single person in China today, I guarantee that even if you escape back to Europe, you will be hunted to the death by Chinese experts," Ma Xiaoling said coldly.

"Senior Nirom, I wonder if there is a Chinese congenital martial saint lurking in secret?" Clive said nothing aloud, but secretly transmitted his voice to ask Nirom.

"No sign of one for the time being." Nirom sensed his surroundings carefully, but within a radius of twenty to thirty miles, there was not the slightest aura of a martial arts expert.

"Why don't you make a move, Senior, and injure a few of them? As long as you don't kill anyone at first, even if a Chinese martial arts expert is in hiding, they will be unable to hold back and will show themselves. If there truly is no Chinese martial arts expert nearby, we might as well go all the way and wipe out this entire batch of Chinese experts, which would deal a heavy blow to China's pool of strength," Clive suggested insidiously.

"Very well, this old man shall give it a try." Nirom pondered for a moment and decided to test the waters. He had not traveled this far just to be a spectator.

"Good, I will cover you, Senior." Overjoyed upon hearing this, Clive immediately transmitted a message to Dragut to coordinate with them.

"Howl..."

"Roar..."

Immediately afterward, Dragut and Clive simultaneously unleashed their full strength. The blood bats formed from their energy actually let out ferocious roars, and Clive let loose a furious cry that caused the surrounding trees to tremble violently.

"Whoosh..."

At that exact moment, amidst the crowd of Western martial artists, a figure suddenly flashed out, pouncing toward the battlefield with ghostly speed. The movement was so swift that even Ma Xiaoling failed to react in time; instead, it was Uncle Thirteen, who was controlling the earth vein energy, that spotted the anomaly first.

"Careful, fall back!" Uncle Thirteen roared at the top of his lungs. However, rather than retreating himself, he directed the earth vein energy to lunge at Nirom while flying forward to block the path.

"Courting death, get lost!" Furious, Nirom barked out a command and swung his hand, unleashing a lightning-like strike that instantly sent Uncle Thirteen flying backward.

"Ah..."

Uncle Thirteen let out a cry of agonizing pain, his body hurtling backward for dozens of meters before crashing heavily onto the hillside below. Simultaneously, Nirom lunged at Wan Huafeng, while Clive pounced on Marina, both striking their targets and sending them flying back injured.

"You are a congenital martial saint, yet you dare to enter China! You have some nerve!" Ma Xiaoling also noticed the sudden turn of events. Roaring with fury, she surged the dragon's aura to instantly beat back Dragut and then charged straight at Nirom.

"Kekekeke, the martial saint of your China hasn't even shown up. Not a single one of you will leave here alive today, and we shall start with you, old woman!" A fierce glint flashed in Nirom's eyes as he burst into laughter. Then, his aura exploded, kicking up towering waves like some prehistoric behemoth.

Meanwhile, Chen Fengyun and Ma Dingdang were still fifty miles away. However, his spiritual sense had already detected the situation on this side. Crying out "Not good!" in alarm, he scooped Ma Dingdang into his arms and leaped down from his flying sword. The flying sword rapidly shrank, transforming into a streak of rainbow light that whistled away like lightning.

"Whoosh..."

Just as Nirom was about to lunge at Ma Xiaoling, a whistling sound suddenly echoed by his ear, growing louder and louder. An overwhelming, monstrous killing intent came rushing from afar, making no attempt to conceal its lethal hostility toward him.

"Run!" Nirom gasped in shock, abandoning his attack on Ma Xiaoling entirely as he whirled around and fled into the distance.

Dragut and Clive were left utterly bewildered, having no clue what had just transpired. The Chinese experts were equally baffled, save for Ma Xiaoling, who wore a thoughtful expression. A few moments later, a dazzling rainbow light flashed past not far away, chasing relentlessly after the retreating Nirom in the distance.

"What on earth is that?"

"It looks like it's hunting down that terrifying Western expert from just now."

"Could it be the legendary congenital martial saint? But the Western expert from before was also a martial saint—why did he flee without even trading a single blow?"

"It must be that a powerful martial saint from our side has arrived. That Western expert knew he was no match, so he ran straight away."

"Ah..."

At that moment, a faint, miserable shriek suddenly echoed from the distant horizon before abruptly fading into silence. The streak of rainbow light then returned, flashing past from afar once more, yet no one managed to clearly make out what it was.

"Let's go." Dragut and Clive snapped back to their senses and immediately called out to the rest of the Western experts, turning around to flee in the direction they had come from.

"Want to leave? Did you ask this old woman for permission?" Yet, reinvigorated, Ma Xiaoling spurred her divine dragon to roar and block the path of Dragut and Clive, while the other Chinese experts stepped forward to intercept the remaining Western grandmasters.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Coughing violently, Uncle Thirteen was helped up from the rubble. Having sustained rather severe injuries, he was unsteady on his feet and could barely stand. Wan Huafeng was in a similar state of injury, and only Marina, who had retreated promptly upon hearing Uncle Thirteen's warning, had escaped with injuries less severe than the other two.